In 2018, many unskilled workers in the United States earned the federal minimum wage of [tex]$7.25 per hour. By
contrast, average earnings in 2018 were about $[/tex]27 per hour, and certain highly skilled professionals, such as
doctors and lawyers, earned [tex]$100 or more per hour.
Instructions: In part a, round your answers to 2 decimal places. For all other parts, enter your answers as a whole
number unless otherwise indicated.
a. If we assume that wage differences are caused solely by differences in productivity, how many times more
productive was the average worker than a worker being paid the federal minimum
wage?
How many times more productive was a $[/tex]100-per-hour lawyer compared to a worker earning minimum wage?
b. Assume that there are 20 minimum-wage workers in the economy for each [tex][tex][tex][tex]$100-per-hour lawyer. Also assume
that both lawyers and minimum-wage workers work
the same number of hours per week. If everyone works 40
hours per week, how much does a $[/tex][/tex][/tex][/tex]100-per-hour lawyer
earn in a week?
How much does a minimum-wage worker earn in a week?
c. Suppose that the government pairs each $100-per-hour lawyer with 20 nearby minimum-wage workers. If the
government taxes 25 percent of each
lawyer's income each week and distributes it equally among the 20
minimum-wage workers with whom
each lawyer is paired, how much more will each of those minimum
-wage
workers receive each week?
If we divide by the number of hours worked each week, how much does each minimum-wage worker's weekly
transfer amount to on an hourly basis
?
Instructions: Round your answer to 2 decimal places.
d. Suppose the government taxes each lawyer 100 percent before dividing the money equally among the 20
minimum-wage workers
with whom each lawyer is paired. How much per week will each minimum-wage
worker
receive?
How much is that on an hourly basis?